Colorado Golf Club – Golf Digest

124. Colorado Golf Club

Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw (2007)

The par-4 10th at Colorado Golf Club, playing downhill off the tee to a green hanging on a slope, with the Colorado Rockies in the far distance, has not a single bunker. Yet it sets the tone for what may well be Coore and Crenshaw’s finest example of how to massage a great golf course from topography that many would have considered ordinary. These designers made this stretch of Front Range southeast of Denver extraordinary. They ran fairways across sagebrush hills that are dotted with pines. They positioned greens on buttes and the far sides of barrancas. Colorado G.C. is a second-shot course where seemingly generous landing areas can result in awkward hanging lies for approach shots to greens that run left or right or even away from the direction of play. In mid-September 2019, the course will host the USGA Mid-Amateur.

100 Greatest/Second 100 Greatest History: Ranked on America’s Second 100 Greatest: 2013 through current. Highest ranking (previous): No. 111.

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Panelist comments, Colorado Golf Club:

“Combine the beautiful aesthetics and the ambience of the property with the routing and hole variety at Colorado Golf Club, and you have a special place for golf.”

“There was a minimal amount of dirt moved giving the course a natural, minimalist feels with a traditional layout that takes advantage of the prevailing winds and elevation changes. Excellent variety of hole designs with multiple options around the greens. And great use the natural terrain to create blind shots on both drives and approaches on most of the straight holes. Without a caddie to direct me where to hit my drives and approaches, I would have been lost at times.”

“Colorado Golf Club does what Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw courses do best—they test the low-handicap player in terms of shot values, while still being fair to the average player—making the player hit solid shots but not overly penalizing them for mistakes.”

“Remarkable piece of land that utilizes the great landforms well. The course also takes advantage of excellent views of the surrounding terrain and distant mountains.”

“Terrific variety including a pair of short par 4s on the back that are beautiful followed by back-to-back par 5s and a beautiful par-3 17th, where Coore and Crenshaw made good use of a spine that runs through the property.”

“The backdrop of the driving range, at the top of the property, with a view of Pike’s Peak, is absolutely beautiful. The lines of the fairway bunkers offer pleasing views from the tee boxes, the closely cut collars around the greens extend all the way to the next tee box and tie the holes together nicely. The subtle water features throughout the course are dangerous but together with the flowers and pines greatly enhance the internal aesthetics of the course.”

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Courtesy of Jon Cavalier